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Music Video: Holly Arntzen and Kevin Wright – 5ive Sisters

Apr 26 2012/in News Coverage

Direct link to YouTube video: https://youtu.be/tp1s7tAVxbs

From description:

5ive Sisters story by Holly Arntzen & Kevin Wright.

We moved to Crofton, BC a couple of years ago. Nice place, on a bluff overlooking the sea. The bluff lined by 5 old-growth Arbutus Trees… Holly would dub them, The 5ive Sisters. She started a little song about them… “Standing on a bluff overlooking the sea, 5ive Sisters watching me…” We never thought it would be a full song. It was just something that Holly sang at the house on the piano.

Then she heard about Hans Doliwa, a local, who had quite the story. He agreed to meet for coffee and tell it. You can hear parts of that interview in the intro of the video.

About 20 years ago, Hans was working in the pulp mills in Chemainus and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. The pulp was put into bales and units and stacked to await shipment
out. One day, the machine that loads and moves the units was pushing a stack of them into place. A stack over 100 yards long. At the end of the stack, way down at the end, a guy sat to eat his lunch. The loader kept pushing and aligning the units into place until finally one got pushed off the end and landed on the guy. Hans and a fellow worker were there. In an adrenaline rush, Hans tried to lift the unit of pulp, weighing in at over 2000 lbs. The unit had the guy crushed right up to his shoulders. Hans heaved upwards enough so the other guy could pull him out. The guy lived.

After some time, the injured man went back to work… but Hans never did. His back was blown out for life after attempting to lift such huge weight. Years went by and Hans had spent the years in a wheelchair. Never working, and constantly battling to be compensated for his injuries.

In Crofton, we have the pleasure of watching raw logs go out to China, the States and elsewhere by giant ship load, right from our yard… as you can see by the footage in the
video. This an ongoing regular occurance. Hans happened to be one man who was just sick of watching this. Logs and jobs being given away. So one day he decided to block the
logging truck entrance to Shoal Island, the dump site for the logs. In his wheelchair, just him, and his dog. He stopped the trucks for less than an hour before he AND his dog got
hauled off by the police. About a year and half later… he did it again.

This song was written as a dedication to a man with a certain amount of bravery and an inner need to stand up for what is right. When you ask him… he doesn’t consider himself anything special, but to us, if more people had his attitude, there might be more positive change happening in this world.

We thought it was worth at least… a song.

Video shot and edited by Kevin Wright
Except studio performance shots by Bob Ennis
Clearcut photography by TJ Watt
Equipment – Panasonic TM900 HD Cam
Avid Studio and a Merlin Pocket Dolly

Let’s name it ‘Protected’

Apr 26 2012/in News Coverage

There’s nothing like labelling something with a name to give you that sense of ownership, but the Ancient Forest Alliance has played a clever card this week by naming one of the most at-risk, unprotected old-growth tree groves on the Island after B.C.’s premier.

“Christy Clark Grove” is the newest discovery for the AFA, and currently sits on unprotected public Crown lands not far from Port Renfrew in the Gordon River Valley, just a half-hour drive from the famous Avatar Grove that was recently protected due to public pressure. The grove includes dozens of ancient trees, including Canada’s eighth-widest known Douglas fir, the “Clark Giant,” standing at an enormous 10 feet wide in trunk diameter, and a burly Red Cedar over 13 feet wide, nicknamed the “Gnarly Clark.”

The group hopes the new name will motivate the premier to protect the grove and develop a plan to protect endangered old-growth forests across B.C., instead of supporting their continued destruction.

“We’re hoping that Christy Clark won’t let the ‘Christy Clark Grove’ get cut down, and will show some leadership by creating a plan to protect B.C.’s endangered old-growth forests,” says TJ Watt, AFA photographer and discoverer of the grove. “Already 75 per cent of Vancouver Island’s productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90 per cent of the biggest trees in the valley bottoms. Why go to the end of an ecosystem when there is an extensive second-growth alternative now to sustain the forest industry?”

The AFA announced the grove after the provincial government released its “BC Forest Strategy” last week, which continues in what the alliance calls “generally destructive status quo policies.” Wood exports to China will be increased, as well as raw log exports and logs from old-growth hemlock-amabilis fir stands. One year ago, the government promised to create a new legal tool to protect B.C.’s largest trees and monumental groves, says AFA head Ken Wu, but so far nothing has materialized. Such a tool, Wu adds, could be used to protect the Christy Clark Grove, and the AFA is calling on Clark to do so.

“We’re still waiting on the B.C. government to show some leadership to create a conservation legacy in B.C. for our endangered old-growth forests, and to end raw log exports,” says Wu. “We want to give credit for good things. But we’re also prepping for a potential major battle in the lead-up to the B.C. election where there will be no prisoners taken, if need be.”

[Monday Mag article no longer available]

Ancient grove named for premier

Apr 24 2012/in News Coverage

In honour of Earth Day, the Ancient Forest Alliance is naming a recently found grove of unprotected, near record-size old-growth trees on Vancouver Island the “Christy Clark Grove” after B.C.’s premier. The group hopes the new name will motivate Premier Clark to protect the grove and develop a plan to protect endangered old-growth forests across BC instead of supporting their continued destruction.

“We’re hoping that Christy Clark won’t let the Christy Clark Grove get cut down, and will show some leadership by creating a plan to protect B.C.’s endangered old-growth forests,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner, and discoverer of the Christy Clark Grove. “Already 75 per cent of Vancouver Island’s productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90 per cent of the biggest trees in the valley bottoms. Why go to the end of an ecosystem when there is an extensive second-growth alternative now to sustain the forest industry?”

The newly found grove is on unprotected public (Crown) lands not far from Port Renfrew, just a half an hour drive from the famous Avatar Grove.

2025 Activity Report & Financials

Apr 30 2026

2025 was a milestone year for the Ancient Forest Alliance and the old-growth campaign. Despite the BC government's backsliding on many of its old-growth commitments, there was still much work to be proud of, including celebrating our 15th year working to protect ancient forests. Check out our 2025 Activity Report & Financials to see the impact YOU made on 2025, plus, find out what we have in store for 2026!

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